Arizona Fall League Prospect Report: Reds Fireballer Keeps Mowing Down Hitters
Image credit: (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Zach Maxwell, RHP, Reds: Maxwell is one of the largest humans in the Fall League and he has one of the best single pitches in this year’s circuit. His fastball sits in the upper 90s, features outstanding life through the zone—including an average of 20 inches of induced vertical break—and garnered a miss rate of nearly 38% during the regular season.
Maxwell was first alerted to his heater’s special qualities during his sophomore season at Georgia Tech, when Yellow Jackets pitching coach Danny Borrell showed him a TrackMan report.
“He’s like, ‘Basically, it comes out your hand and it looks like it’s rising,” Maxwell said. “At the top of the zone it’s virtually unhittable.”
With that knowledge, the next step to find a pitch that perfectly tailored with his four-seamer. They concluded that the best answer as a breaking ball with north-south action.
“Working up (in the strike zone) and then getting a breaking ball to throw down off that it was something we worked on my sophomore my junior year,” Maxwell said. “That’s when I really realized what the analytics really meant behind it and how (the fastball) played and how to use it beyond the velocity.”
On Monday, Maxwell struck out one hitter in a scoreless ninth inning to seal Surprise’s win over Peoria. For the fall, he’s allowed two earned runs in eight innings with five walks and 13 strikeouts. His next steps involve sharpening his control and command.
If he can do that, he and his filthy fastball could one day be pitching the late innings in Cincinnati.
Liam Hicks, C, Rangers: In the AFL’s first week, Hicks wrote his name in the record books by collecting six hits in a game against Scottsdale. Since then, he hasn’t cooled off. On Monday, Rangers prospect went 4-for-4 with a double in Surprise’s win over Peoria. He’s up to 27 hits in the AFL, which represents nearly 33% of the total he had during the regular season and easily paces the league.
Emiliano Teodo, RHP, Rangers: What a difference a change in arsenal can make. As written earlier in the AFL, Teodo ditched his four-seam fastball in the middle of the regular season and replaced it with a sinker. The change added much-needed movement without sacrificing any velocity. The righthander struck out a pair in a scoreless inning on Monday and now boasts an eye-popping line. In seven innings spread across five outings, he’s allowed one hit and one walk and struck out 14 hitters.
Monday’s Top Performers
| Player | Team | Org. | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
| Melendez, Ivan | SRR | ARI | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .292 | .419 | .542 | 2B, HR, SB |
| McCabe, David | SRR | ATL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .236 | .364 | .455 | 2 2B |
| Tolve, Tyler | SRR | ATL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .540 | .610 | .640 | |
| McDonough, Tyler | GDD | BOS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .471 | .514 | .853 | HR |
| Rosier, Cory | GDD | BOS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .200 | .308 | .400 | 2B |
| Alcántara, Kevin | MSS | CHC | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .259 | .352 | .407 | 2B |
| DeLauter, Chase | PEJ | CLE | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .258 | .465 | .290 | 2B, CS |
| Manzardo, Kyle | PEJ | CLE | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .295 | .467 | .386 | |
| Montgomery, Benny | SRR | COL | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .357 | .448 | .536 | HR |
| Dezenzo, Zach | MSS | HOU | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .213 | .260 | .468 | 2B |
| Alexander, CJ | SUR | KCR | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .286 | .463 | 3B |
| Wilson, Peyton | SUR | KCR | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .208 | .317 | .434 | CS |
| Rosario, Kala’i | GDD | MIN | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .286 | .367 | .429 | HR |
| Parada, Kevin | GDD | NYM | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .188 | .188 | .208 | HR |
| Smith, D’Andre | GDD | NYM | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .288 | .397 | .500 | |
| Armenteros, Lazaro | MSS | OAK | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .200 | .350 | .200 | 2 SB |
| Harris, Brett | MSS | OAK | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .230 | .338 | .410 | 2B |
| Kroon, Matt | SCO | PHI | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .293 | .388 | .415 | 2B, SB |
| Locklear, Tyler | PEJ | SEA | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .293 | .369 | .672 | 2B |
| Keegan, Dominic | PEJ | TBR | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217 | .308 | .261 | 2B |
| Hicks, Liam | SUR | TEX | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .327 | .422 | .418 | 2B |
| Moller, Ian | SUR | TEX | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .194 | .256 | .278 | |
| Brown, Dasan | SUR | TOR | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .162 | .225 | .162 | 2B, SB |
| Lipscomb, Trey | SCO | WAS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .283 | .418 | .491 | 2B |
| Player | Team | Org | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | |
| Vines, Darius | SRR | ATL | 2.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3.24 | |
| Eder, Jake | GDD | CHWS | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5.11 | W |
| Barger, Alec | SRR | COL | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.42 | |
| Ulloa, Miguel | MSS | HOU | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13.50 | W |
| Hernandez, Joseph | SUR | MIL | 1.1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15.19 | |
| Seminaris, Adam | SUR | MIL | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.50 | W |
| Powell, Holden | SCO | OAK | 1.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 17.05 | L |
| Salinas, Royber | MSS | OAK | 3.1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 9.28 | |
| Tur, Yunior | MSS | OAK | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7.36 | |
| Martinez, Jordi | SCO | PHI | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1.23 | |
| Nett, Braden | PEJ | SDP | 2.1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4.11 | L |
| Choate, Jack | SCO | SFG | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6.97 | |
| Vernon, Austin | PEJ | TBR | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.76 | |
| Workman, Logan | PEJ | TBR | 1.2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.40 |
